Nation/World Briefs

December 22, 2005

NATIONAL BRIEFINGPopulation shift to South, West may tip House seats their way WASHINGTON (AP) -- Southern and Western states are growing so much faster than the rest of the country that several are expected to grab House seats from the Northeast and Midwest when Congress is reapportioned in 2010. Demographers and political analysts project that Texas and Florida could each gain as many as three House seats. Ohio and New York could lose as many as two seats apiece. The projections are based on state population estimates by the Census Bureau. The bureau released its July 2005 estimates today, showing that Nevada grew at a faster rate than any other state for the 19th consecutive year, followed by Arizona, Idaho, Florida and Utah. Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts lost population, as did the District of Columbia. The populations of North Dakota, Ohio and Michigan grew, but at a slower rate than others. Overall, the country grew by 0.9 percent in the past year, to about 296.4 million people. NATIONAL BRIEFINGRequest to Germany not to parole hijacker was ignored, U.S. says WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales personally asked the German government not to release a terrorist accused of killing a Navy diver, but was rebuffed, the Bush administration said Wednesday. Mohammed Ali Hamadi was freed on parole by German authorities after serving 19 years of a life sentence for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA plane during which a U.S. Navy diver was killed. The 17-day ordeal riveted the United States and brought Middle East terrorism home for many Americans. NATIONAL BRIEFINGCourt spurns Bush team requests to transfer Padilla, vacate ruling WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody. The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to vacate a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil. The decision, written by Judge Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set to convince a grand jury in Florida to indict him last month. Luttig said the administration has risked its "credibility before the courts" by appearing to use the indictment of Padilla to thwart an appeal of the appeals court's decision that gave the president wide berth in holding enemy combatants. Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport as he returned to the United States from Afghanistan. Justice and Defense Department officials alleged Padilla had come home to carry out an al-Qaida backed plot to blow up apartment buildings in New York, Washington or Florida. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFINGRussian parliament advances bill to curb nongovernmental groups MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's lower house of parliament tentatively approved a much-criticized bill Wednesday that severely restricts nongovernmental organizations and could threaten the survival of rights groups and others considered disloyal to the Kremlin. After a wave of protest from Russian and foreign NGOs and foreign governments, President Vladimir Putin had called on deputies to revise the bill, including scrapping a requirement that local branches of foreign groups register as virtual Russian entities subject to stricter financial and legal restrictions. Sponsors of the legislation said it was necessary to stem terrorism and extremism. Critics and supporters of the legislation alike say the bill has grown out of the Kremlin's increasing displeasure with nonprofit groups that criticize the government, advocate democracy and promote human rights.